A gay couple in Clarendon, Texas, awoke Monday morning to find a death threat spray-painted on their front porch, an act of vandalism that has left them both fearful for their lives. Joshua Harrison and Jeremy Jeffers reported the hate-filled vandalism to the local police, according to Pronews 7. The message read, "Leave or die fags," and it appeared not long after an area minister's antigay advertisement was published in the local newspaper. Clarendon Church of Christ pastor Chris Moore's ad listed the "platform" of the "Homosexual Movement," which included this line: "Folks, don't be fooled, the 'gay' agenda isn't about 'equal' rights for gay couples. Their agenda would force everyone to compromise their values, make our children legal prey for pedofiles."

Pronews 7 reported that the "source" of information cited in the ad, the National Coalition of Gay Organizations, was a convention that was held in 1972.

Donley County sheriff Charles "Butch" Blackburn told Travis Ruiz that he does "consider it a hate crime."

The two men, however, are planning to do just want the vandal ordered: leave Clarendon.

"It's sad," Jeffers told Pronews 7. "For the first time in my life, I have never felt this scared."